The new UEFA
Champions League
The meeting of the UEFA
Executive Committee in
Antalya four weeks ago was
the fifth to be held in Turkey,
and one which proved cru
cial for the future of the UEFA
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE,
The fundamental deci
sion was to increase the num
ber of participants from 16 to
24 teams - but not the num
ber of match days - and to
play the group phase of the
competition in six groups of
four teams, with the six group-
winners and the two best run-
ners-up qualifying for the
quarter-finals, to be played
under the current home-and-
away knock-out system.
The new format which
will be put into practice from
the 1997-98 season on
means the following:
The eight top-
ranked associations in
UEFA's national coefficient
list will be invited to enter a
second team - the runners-
up in the domestic champi
onship - but the coefficient
list, based on results over
the last five seasons, has not
been finalised. Results from
the current campaign will be
taken into account and
therefore Belgium, currently
eighth in the ranking, could,
for example, be overtaken by
Nordin Wooter from Ajax is surrounded by three "Grasshoppers" (from
left to right): Bernt Haas, Massimo Lombardo and Antonio Esposito in
the UEFA Champions League match at the Amsterdam Arena.
PHOTO: CHRISTIAN LIEWIG/TEMP SPORT
Greece, Russia or Turkey.
The definitive list will be com
piled at the end of the 1996-
97 UEFA club competitions
campaign, i.e. on 31st May.
The following crite
ria will determine the two
runners-up which will join
the group-winners for the
quarter-finals:
1st priority: number of
points obtained in the group
matches
2nd priority: goal dif
ference resulting from the
group matches
3rd priority: greater
number of goals scored in
the group matches
4th priority: greater
number of goals scored away
from home in group matches
The UEFA Club
Competitions' Committee
will decide on any further cri
teria which might have to be
applied.
In the preliminary
round, to be played in July,
the champions representing
the countries ranked
between 17 and 48 will meet
on a home-and-away knock
out basis.
In the qualifying
round, to be played in
August, the 16 winners will
take on the champions of the
countries ranked between 9
and 16, plus the eight run
ners-up of the associations
ranked 1-8. The losing
teams in the qualifying
round will enter the first
round of the UEFA Cup.
It is possible for one
association to enter three
clubs in the UEFA CHAMPI
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